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The sunlight seeped through the dusty window. It was a morning in the central Kien Empire, where a blizzard was raging outside. The sun was up, yet the world was as chaotic as an alien invasion.

As I opened my sleepy eyes and sat up, an unfamiliar sight greeted me.

Though it was a house I had never seen before, the situation felt strangely familiar, and I didn’t feel out of place at all.

Mornings spent overseas always began like this, after all.

*Clatter, clatter.*

The sound of clashing dishes reached my ears. The usually quiet accommodation was now filled with the bustling noise of life.

Descending the stairs and glancing around, I noticed Francesca’s back as she stood with her back to the living room, seemingly busy in the kitchen. It seemed she hadn’t heard my footsteps coming down the stairs.

I approached Francesca, who was concentrating hard, and softly called out her name.

“Francesca?”

“Ah, you’re up!”

Francesca turned to face me, and only then did I notice the coffee cup in her hand.

“You’ve been drinking coffee since morning. So typical of a Patalia person.”

“Actually, I was making it.”

As she said this, Francesca was brewing coffee with a machine that I couldn’t figure out where she got it from. I pulled out a kitchen chair and sat in front of her.

“There should be coffee mix in that cupboard… Should I get it?”

“What’s that?”

“It’s something made in the Magic Tower.”

“Oh… that. I really don’t understand why people drink that tasteless sludge.”

I couldn’t help but wholeheartedly agree with her opinion.

The senior executive of the Magic Tower Secretariat, disdainful of the Magic Tower coffee, leisurely made her own cup while subtly asking, “Would you like a cup, Colonel?”

Coffee? Yes, please! I nodded enthusiastically in acceptance.

As she carefully stirred the coffee with sugar melting into it, I lifted my cup to inhale its aroma. The smell was rich, and the taste was impeccable, hitting the sweet spot just right.

Nothing awakens the mind like caffeine. With gratefulness, I turned to Francesca and said, “Could you bring me some water? The espresso is too bitter, and I’d like to dilute it.”

“If that’s the case, just have some ice water instead. Don’t waste that expensive coffee.”

*

Two weeks later, returning to the diplomat’s quarters, it was cleaner than I expected.

There was no dust, no frozen pipes, and no intruders.

I thought there wouldn’t be anyone to keep it in check while I stayed in the northern regions since I didn’t hire a housekeeper, but it seems my judgment was wrong. The Embassy of the Kingdom of Abas had sent someone to maintain and check the quarters even during my absence.

Thanks to the embassy’s consideration, we were able to rest well after returning from the Magic Tower.

In fact, we rested a bit too well.

“I did sleep in a bit.”

“Thanks to that, I missed the first train.”

My plan to catch the first train after just three hours of sleep had completely gone awry.

But that was alright. There was no urgent need to return immediately. Besides, I had brought back sufficient gains.

I set down my cup and broke the silence.

“I’m going to be busy for a while. I can guarantee I won’t have time to relax like today.”

“Of course, you’ll be busy, Colonel. It won’t be easy, either.”

The plan to pressure Hormoz into extracting information had just begun.

I decided to exploit the culture and customs of the Dark Elves for the success of this operation.

“Dark Elves tend to avoid losing. Whether it’s investments or business, their status in society drops significantly the moment they fail.”

“They are a race that values judgment more than any other.”

“So, if they flop in the northern black market, it’ll be quite the embarrassment for them.”

I honestly didn’t care how long Hormoz had been doing business in the north or how much profit he had made so far. Why should I?

What mattered was that his business failed. Effort for business? Past achievements? None of that mattered. People only judge by results.

The Dark Elves were no exception.

“We’re going to target exactly that point.”

To ruin Hormoz’s business, we had to choose between two methods.

First, reduce the revenue of the Palm Tree Trade Guild in the black market to strangle their funding.

Second, sabotage either the Palm Tree Trade Guild or business partners connected to Hormoz, causing disruptions in his operations.

“Of course, there are other naive methods available…”

“What methods are those?”

“Bribing the military police, luring them with a capture operation by reporting them, hiring thugs, posing as a competing company to mess with his business, threatening, bribing, or even assassinating the executives, inciting his staff to sabotage, or outright sabotaging the warehouse.”

These were the tricks the Information Agency used all the time. Nothing new there. I had done it several times in the Third World.

But right now, I couldn’t use those methods.

This was Kien Empire, not the loosely monitored, tribe-controlled Middle East or Africa. If the Imperial Guard HQ or Counter-Intelligence Headquarters found out, my head would be on the line.

Plus, there was someone very influential who was backing Hormoz—someone I didn’t know, but given that they were supporting Hormoz during the martial law declared in the north, they were certainly not an ordinary person.

“Anyway, we need to ponder over two options. If things go well, we can arrange a negotiation with Hormoz easily, and even if it doesn’t, we can still extract his connections to gather information. Whatever happens, we just need to receive the information, right?”

“I want to make money too.”

“You’re a wealthy person already; your greed is astonishing…”

“What did you just say…?”

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

As Francesca’s voice turned icy, I quickly averted my gaze.

“Anyway, what’s important is from here on out. There won’t be any time to rest now.”

We had made agreements concerning business with Victor, but that was just the beginning.

We needed to bring the cargo that Victor had brought into the empire to the north, carve out a route for distributing goods in the northern black market, and secure control of the underground economy against the Palm Tree Trade Guild and their rabble. All this in a region under martial law.

None of it was easy. Why on earth did I even suggest doing this?

A pang of regret hit me, but it was too late. The die was cast.

I took a moment to sip the coffee Francesca made for me and calmly organized my thoughts. Sitting across from her at the table filled with the rich aroma of coffee, we slowly revisited our business plans.

“Food, medicine, winter supplies… Do you really think these have business potential, Colonel?”

“Food and medicine are the most in-demand yet least supplied items in conflict areas. There are countless people starving and getting injured, yet supply is drastically insufficient. The reason canned peaches that sell for 3 Takron in the capital go for 60 Takron in the northern black market is precisely because of this.”

“There were also industrial zones and greenhouse areas for food production included among the reconstruction areas the Magic Department official requested of me. Given that self-sufficient food production doesn’t occur in the north, it’s likely that black market traders are connected with the outside.”

“But they probably aren’t as large as the Palm Tree Trade Guild. If those chumps are retailers, then Hormoz is the wholesaler. The only direct competition we’ll face will be the Palm Tree Trade Guild.”

“How should we go about sales?”

“We can’t expect laws or morals in the black market. Only those who can protect themselves should go. The numbers need to be just right—not too few, not too many.”

“From what you’re saying, it seems there’s no choice but to rely on mages.”

“So how many can we narrow down? Or is it none?”

“Let’s go for it. I know a few who are discreet among those dispatched to the north.”

“Sounds good.”

Clap! Clap! I applauded to lighten the mood.

“Let’s wash up and get ready to depart. It’s time to make some money.”

*

I grabbed the disposable toiletries provided by the embassy staff and headed to the shower.

I appreciated that, being in the diplomats’ quarters, hot water flowed freely even in this cold weather. It wasn’t extravagant, but after two weeks of not having hot water in the north, it felt like a luxury.

Currently, in the north, even hot water wasn’t freely available. There was a shortage of drinking water, and the magic used for washing was…

“Heating it up? That’s quite a luxury. The refugees don’t even have water to wash themselves.”

Having ventured into conflict areas quite a bit, I understood, but the real issue was that even in the accommodations provided to our party, it was difficult to use hot water. Specifically, the Military Government Headquarters controlled the schedule for when hot water was available in each region.

If one didn’t get in and wash up quickly, they could end up experiencing the unpleasantness of ice-cold water pouring down during their shower. Considering that the hotel provided for foreign dignitaries was in this state, just imagine how severe conditions must be in the shelters packed with refugees. As a result, Lucia was working continuously without any rest.

“…Ah, this is warm.”

After finishing a long-awaited hot shower, I dried myself off with a towel.

It seemed a bit unreasonable to go back empty-handed, so perhaps I should buy a gift. Whether for Camila and Lucia or for Pippin, Jake, and Charnoy, I needed to decide.

“But I should know what they like…”

As I dried off and dressed in a suit, I checked my watch. It was almost noon.

I slipped my legs into my trousers and hastily threw on a shirt, just as I was about to remove the blood-stained bandages and wrap clean ones around my forearm.

“Do you need help?”

Francesca appeared at the open door. She seemed to have finished getting ready, leaning against the door frame in the splendid outfit I’d seen her in at the Magic Tower yesterday.

I pointed to the suit she was wearing with my chin as I tied my tie.

“That suit looks great. The vest suits you well.”

“Thank you for the compliment. You look good in a suit too. But I guess you didn’t like the one I gifted you? I rarely see you wearing it.”

“People like me don’t really wear tailored suits.”

“Because they’re expensive?”

“No, it’s because frequent contact with a tailor could reveal my identity.”

Francesca laughed as if I’d hit a bullseye with my blunt response.

“You live quite a tiring life.”

I struggled with the tie as I looked at the mirror, but it wouldn’t cooperate because my arms were injured; the knot just wouldn’t come out nicely.

My arms and hands were numb, signaling that I must have wrapped the bandages too tightly.

I was considering fixing the bandages, leaving the tie for now when Francesca suddenly stepped up in front of me, watching quietly.

“Hold still.”

Francesca swiftly undid the poorly tied tie.

Then, holding the ends of the tie like a great sword and a short sword, she posed a question.

“What type of knot do you prefer, Colonel?”

I stared at her with slightly befuddled eyes before turning my gaze away to button my cuffs.

“You can tie it however you like.”

“That’s quite the ambiguous answer.”

She teased that she would tie it the way she usually does, so I shouldn’t complain, and with deft hands, she made the tie knot.

Judging by her skill, it didn’t look like this was her first attempt. Tying one’s own tie is easy, but tying someone else’s must be a challenge.

When I asked her how she knew how to do it, she succinctly replied.

“My brother.”

“……”

I stopped in my tracks while buttoning up.

Francesca’s brother had died long ago. No one knew why. He was simply found as a corpse floating in a river by a passerby who reported it to the police.

Even Leoni, the head of the Royal Intelligence Department who discovered her as an information agent, didn’t know this, nor did Clevenz, who usually reviews the details about me.

Not even I knew.

A heavy atmosphere settled with the sudden revelation, but Francesca silently adjusted her collar.

“There’s one thing I’d like to ask.”

Francesca finally spoke up as she finished the tie knot, just when the silence was thickening.

“Go ahead.”

“About pretending to be your girlfriend.”

“Ah… yes.”

“I just wanted to know until when I should keep up the act. Only in front of your friends? I’m asking because you haven’t mentioned otherwise.”

Pretending to be a fake girlfriend, huh…

As I adjusted my clothing, I fell into thought for a moment.

“…Hmm. I guess I’ll have to put on a show in front of Victor.”

“What about the others?”

“That would depend on the situation, wouldn’t it? You never know how things could unfold.”

Francesca’s hands, which had been tying the knot, abruptly stopped.

“…So you’re saying I should act in front of other people just like yesterday?”

“If necessary, yes. Thinking about it, we should be prepared for our act to fit together, right?”

“Fit together?”

“Yes. We need to craft a believable story so that our performance holds water…”

Francesca lifted her gaze from the tie, locking eyes with me, her expression icy enough to pierce.

“Ah.”

Even if she was an intelligence agent, she was still a noblewoman, so perhaps this was a bit too much?

As that realization crossed my mind, Francesca tightened the knot abruptly.

“…Gack!”

“……”

“What are you doing… I nearly choked…!”

“Why don’t you just go and die then? People really can say whatever they want, can’t they?”

With a mockingly cold demeanor, Francesca hurled her sarcastic remarks before turning on her heel and leaving the room.

Still dazed, I snapped back to reality and hurried after her.

“…Administrator. Are you upset?”

“……”

Francesca turned away without uttering a word. Anyone could tell she was in a huff.

“…I mean, you should tell me so I can at least apologize.”

How ridiculous.

I stared at Francesca, who was acting aloof, then grabbed my things and stepped out.

Even if I were to get off at the Northern Gate, it would take at least two hours by train; what would I do? Should I try to find a seat that’s not too far away?

With such thoughts in mind, I hurried to catch up with Francesca, who was striding ahead.

*

I brought my belongings down to the first floor, moving quickly down the stairs just in case Francesca tried to go off on her own.

Upon arriving at the first floor, I was relieved to see that Francesca was still at the lodging.

Having gone out first, she was standing in front of the entrance. It seemed she was waiting for me, so I quickened my pace to catch up.

At that moment, something caught my eye.

“…?”

Francesca was standing still at the entrance, but her posture seemed a little off.

Her hand rested on the doorknob, and the door was wide open. It was as if she had just opened the door to step out but halted mid-motion.

A chilly winter breeze swept through, lowering the temperature inside. Despite the biting wind, Francesca neither closed the door to go back inside nor stepped out through it.

Sensing something unusual as I observed her awkward stance, I discreetly reached for my waist. As always, a pistol provided by the Military Intelligence Agency was holstered there.

“Administrator, is something wrong?”

“……”

“Francesca…?”

What could be the issue? Did something happen?

I wanted to ask, but I couldn’t say a word. There was no need to ask at all.

In front of the diplomat residence assigned by the Embassy of the Kingdom of Abas, a crowd had gathered.

Several high-end sedans were lined up along the alley, and several Suit Men dressed in formal attire were guarding the doorway. Among them stood a foreigner with an exotic appearance.

They were all positioned in front of the diplomatic residence.

As if standing guard, waiting for someone to emerge.

And some of them wore very distinctive outfits.

Wrinkled black cloth, a small white square resting just before the collarbone, and a fascia tied around the waist.

They were Clerics of the Cult.

 

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